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TI: So growing up for you, growing up in Bainbridge Island, I wanted to ask you things like, did, were there, like, Japanese school for the kids?

TK: Yeah, there was Japanese school. I think it was on Saturday, but I didn't go because I was too young.

TI: So, but your older brothers?

TK: I think they went, yeah.

TI: How about other Japanese activities? I mean, were there, like a church that your family went to, or events that were kind of more Japanese community on Bainbridge Island?

TK: Yeah, the, Bainbridge Island is a fairly small island. I think it's about, I don't know, four miles wide and about twelve miles long, and we were living on the southern part of the island. And most of the Japanese, they were strawberry farmers and they lived on the central part of the island or on the northern part, and so we didn't have that much contact with them except, I remember we had an annual picnic that we went to, and then I guess there was a Japanese hall and I guess they had some meetings and they showed Japanese movies and stuff that we used to go to. But then that was about four or five miles away, and for us at that time, that was almost in a different country. [Laughs]

TI: And so, annual picnic, tell me a little bit about that. I mean, what would happen at the annual picnic?

TK: Just about anything regular, I guess. At the picnic we used to bring our lunch, and they used to have these races for kids, and I think the old folks had, I guess they had their beer parties and things like that. I think it was just, it was just an annual get-together.

TI: Now would the picnic be by the beach, or it'd be someplace more inland on a field or something?

TK: It was near the beach, but not that close so that we didn't, there wasn't any water activities, I don't think. But it was at a park.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.